Boss Hogg
<font color=green>It's 5 o'clock somewhere<br><fon
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2004
- Messages
- 2,528
Before I start a few words to set the scene.
Having read and commented on Kev's trip reports I felt inspired to finish off the reports from our point of view, which luckily, for us, was two days longer than the Stringer holiday. The reason for this being we were unable to get flights on the same day as the Stringers and were forced into two days more - oh no what a pity
This is the first time I have ever tried this trip report malarchy, and as such all the recollections are just that and not from notes made along the way, which poses some issues about recalling what we did after I started drinking
but I will try my best. So let us begin:
We bid farewell to Kev, Tam, Susan India and Georgia at the car park of Saratoga Springs, where they patiently await the arrival of Disney security to start the car.
I feel slightly unkind leaving them there without a working car, but I am sure that someone will be along very shortly, and its not as if it my fault its their car after all
. As we drive away we pass a Disney Security van entering the resort, so hopefully their saviour is close at hand.
We are staying at Rosen Shingle Creek, which is a new resort not far from International Drive and the 528 Beeline Expressway. We hop onto the I4 and across on the Beeline. The journey holds a little trepidation as Deb had read some reviews that are less than glowing of the resort, most of the issues being down to the fact that it has only been open for a matter of weeks. Im sure well manage though; as long as it has a bar open somewhere it cant be all bad!
Upon arrival we are greeted by the valet and unload our luggage. I am immediately struck with the difference between this hotel and the Disney hotels. The valet is very efficient and polite enough but there is definitely something missing there is no greeter for example as there is with the Disney deluxes. Its just less friendly, I guess.
Check-in goes very smoothly the guy here is very friendly and helpful - and we are on our way to the room in a matter of minutes.
Whilst the valet staff may have lacked something when compared to Disney, the hotel certainly does not. Having stayed at some expensive hotels in the area it is very similar to a lot of high-end hotels, marble floors everywhere and very opulent décor. In my opinion this is where the Disney hotels are left somewhat lacking. In comparison to the off-site hotels I find the Disney hotels too formulaic and they just dont quite exude the same level of opulence.
Our room is on the 12th floor and we have a lovely view of the pools and golf course. It is quite windy today and looking at the 3 pools I can spot the grand total of 2 people having a swim. Now Ive had some private pools in my time, but this is going some.
The view:
The room:
Having had our luggage delivered and unpacked we decide to go for a wander and look around the hotel whilst we decide what to do with
ourselves for the rest of the day.
There are a number of bars, which look very welcoming phew! Seems to me that the looking around is finished, but we soldier on to look at the rest of the place as well, as Deb quite rightly says if we dont do it now we wont do it at all. Makes sense I guess, or, we could just go for a drink instead is my contribution to the conversation.
After looking around the lobby, shops and golf pro shop we head back to the room to get changed for dinner. We had planned on visiting the Salt Island Chophouse and Fish Market on I-Drive which we really enjoyed last time we ate there. However, we decide that, as were only here for two nights, it makes more sense to make the most of the hotel.
A quick couple of lengths of the bath and we are away to the bar for a couple of pre-dinner drinks. Now this is much more my sort of thing, I do enjoy spending time in bars, strangely enough, and again I think that this is something which Disney does not do too well.
A couple of large Manhattans are despatched in short order, which is always the best way to drink em if you ask me. I make a reservation at the upscale Italian restaurant for a little later, which is not entirely necessary as the hotel is quite quiet (its mainly a convention hotel and its the weekend). We have a very pleasant and tasty meal that is accompanied by a superb bottle of wine. It costs something in the region of $250, but it is worth it and very enjoyable.
Feeling replete and having had our fill of liqor, we stagger off to bed. There has been some discussion about what to do the next day, but we retire undecided, having concluded that well see how were feeling in the morning
Having read and commented on Kev's trip reports I felt inspired to finish off the reports from our point of view, which luckily, for us, was two days longer than the Stringer holiday. The reason for this being we were unable to get flights on the same day as the Stringers and were forced into two days more - oh no what a pity
This is the first time I have ever tried this trip report malarchy, and as such all the recollections are just that and not from notes made along the way, which poses some issues about recalling what we did after I started drinking
but I will try my best. So let us begin:We bid farewell to Kev, Tam, Susan India and Georgia at the car park of Saratoga Springs, where they patiently await the arrival of Disney security to start the car.
I feel slightly unkind leaving them there without a working car, but I am sure that someone will be along very shortly, and its not as if it my fault its their car after all
. As we drive away we pass a Disney Security van entering the resort, so hopefully their saviour is close at hand.We are staying at Rosen Shingle Creek, which is a new resort not far from International Drive and the 528 Beeline Expressway. We hop onto the I4 and across on the Beeline. The journey holds a little trepidation as Deb had read some reviews that are less than glowing of the resort, most of the issues being down to the fact that it has only been open for a matter of weeks. Im sure well manage though; as long as it has a bar open somewhere it cant be all bad!
Upon arrival we are greeted by the valet and unload our luggage. I am immediately struck with the difference between this hotel and the Disney hotels. The valet is very efficient and polite enough but there is definitely something missing there is no greeter for example as there is with the Disney deluxes. Its just less friendly, I guess.
Check-in goes very smoothly the guy here is very friendly and helpful - and we are on our way to the room in a matter of minutes.
Whilst the valet staff may have lacked something when compared to Disney, the hotel certainly does not. Having stayed at some expensive hotels in the area it is very similar to a lot of high-end hotels, marble floors everywhere and very opulent décor. In my opinion this is where the Disney hotels are left somewhat lacking. In comparison to the off-site hotels I find the Disney hotels too formulaic and they just dont quite exude the same level of opulence.
Our room is on the 12th floor and we have a lovely view of the pools and golf course. It is quite windy today and looking at the 3 pools I can spot the grand total of 2 people having a swim. Now Ive had some private pools in my time, but this is going some.
The view:
The room:
Having had our luggage delivered and unpacked we decide to go for a wander and look around the hotel whilst we decide what to do with
ourselves for the rest of the day.
There are a number of bars, which look very welcoming phew! Seems to me that the looking around is finished, but we soldier on to look at the rest of the place as well, as Deb quite rightly says if we dont do it now we wont do it at all. Makes sense I guess, or, we could just go for a drink instead is my contribution to the conversation.
After looking around the lobby, shops and golf pro shop we head back to the room to get changed for dinner. We had planned on visiting the Salt Island Chophouse and Fish Market on I-Drive which we really enjoyed last time we ate there. However, we decide that, as were only here for two nights, it makes more sense to make the most of the hotel.
A quick couple of lengths of the bath and we are away to the bar for a couple of pre-dinner drinks. Now this is much more my sort of thing, I do enjoy spending time in bars, strangely enough, and again I think that this is something which Disney does not do too well.
A couple of large Manhattans are despatched in short order, which is always the best way to drink em if you ask me. I make a reservation at the upscale Italian restaurant for a little later, which is not entirely necessary as the hotel is quite quiet (its mainly a convention hotel and its the weekend). We have a very pleasant and tasty meal that is accompanied by a superb bottle of wine. It costs something in the region of $250, but it is worth it and very enjoyable.
Feeling replete and having had our fill of liqor, we stagger off to bed. There has been some discussion about what to do the next day, but we retire undecided, having concluded that well see how were feeling in the morning
